Before anybody alerts the authorities….I don’t use bubble wrap on Barley! Even though the thought is tempting at times!

All jokes aside, look what I just got sent from my friend A. 😀 Barley napping in the pasture !

Two days ago I thought it was time for Barley to be outside 24/7 again after his injury. During the summer I try to arrange some vacation for him as well, which means, that he can be in the pasture at night together with other horses.

wild boys

The first time I turned him out end of June,same herd, different pasture. It’s a herd of geldings and, at first they were quite curious about the newbie entering the pasture, but after the dust (read mudd!) had settled, they enjoyed the piece and quiet together.

Hey, you look like me!!

And of course he made some new friends…btw, Barley is on the left 😉

Sorry…have to get back!

When I see him like this, I even accept that he is sometimes prefering the company of his euqine friends instead of mine. Who doesn’t like to see his horse happy and relaxed in the company of others.

At other times he didn’t want to go away and stayed close to the gate…that was like a little band-aid for a Mom’s heart 😉

Are you sure you are out of appels ??

Of course I am aware of the danger when having my horse turned out, it’s not a question of when they get insured, it’s just a question of how bad they get insured. Would I like to wrap him in bubble-wrap…of course!!! I hate my horse to be insured, I suppose he doesn’t like it either, but these are the things that happen. I am constantly trying to find the balance between Barley being as save as possible and happy at the same time.

I really didn’t like what I found in the pasture just two weeks after I had turned him out.

Damn it, I should’t have turned him out with other horses!

Was my first thought, second one:

Oh my gosh, don’t let the tendon be damaged!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wound left hint, 20140714

He was quite lucky though, I still don’t have a clue how a managed to get this wound but the important thing is, the tendon was not damaged! He was not even lame and I could walk him back the 10minutes walk to the stable. Of course I had called to my vetbefore, but when I told her that he was not lame and that I even could pick up the other hint leg without him fuzzing around she calmed me down and promised to come there the next morning to have a look at him.

My friend A. who I met on my way back to the stable turned her horse around to help me out (again!). Note to everyone who is not as lucky as I am, to have a friend like A. around who would even get up in the middle of the night to put a bandage on your horse….try to learn it on a healthy horse before it ever gets an injury!

A. (being lame herself at the time because a 1400lb horse had stepped on her foot the day before) cleaned up the wound and put on the bandage. The next morning my vet had a look at the wound and was seriously impressed about the bandage. The pressure was just right and the wound had pulled together nicely. Even though we have the warmest summer in Sweden right now, there was no heat in the leg or around the wound, no swelling, no infection.

Wound, day 2

My vet stated that all she can do is just to put on another bandage and he should rest.

AWESOME!!!!

I tried to keep my cool and just did the happy dance in my head instead! A. showed me the following day how I am doing the bandage on my own and was with me every evening for 3 days when I did it, just to make sure that it’s done correctly. Such a friend….PRICELESS!!!!,

They say you heal better when you sleep a lot!

Smart horse! 😀 ❤

As I mentioned before, we have a really warm summer here in Sweden right now with temperatures over 30°C (our thermometer said, the highest temperature was 46.2°C in the sun). Which is really not the right temperature to have a bandage on your leg!

He tried to bite the bandage off!

On July, 21st I got a message from A.:

We took him out of the sick-pasture, because he tried to bite of his bandage. Gimme a call!

Done and done, 5 minutes later, we were in the car. 25 minutes later we were at the stables, were I found A. and T. (her other half) with Barley (grazing) in the shadow.

Fortunately the wound had healed so good that we could take of the bandage and just kept going with medical honey another couple of days. A. put on the honey before he was turned out in the morning. THANKS so much again from the bottom of my heart for careing so much!!!

What happens when a horsemad Ould Wagon moves from Cork to Provence with 2 horses, 2 dogs and a Long Suffering Husband? Why, she gets a third dog, discovers Natural Horsemanship à la Française and starts writing short stories, of course...